Nathan Aké has lamented Manchester City’s lack of fortitude after the club were dumped out of the Champions League and said the unprecedented number of defeats being experienced under Pep Guardiola may be taking a toll.

Kylian Mbappé made the most of City’s defensive frailties on Wednesday by opening the scoring for Real Madrid in the fourth minute and hitting a hat-trick as the Spanish side won the playoff 6-3 on aggregate.

The striker found it easy to run in behind City’s high backline, which conceded 20 goals in 10 Champions League games in a painful European campaign. Guardiola’s side also have the worst defensive record of the Premier League’s top eight and welcome the highest scorers, Liverpool, on Sunday.

Asked why City’s had shown little resilience this season, Aké said: “Maybe because there’s been a lot of setbacks this season, maybe more than we’ve been used to. It’s a new experience for everyone. How we dealt with it [at Madrid] obviously wasn’t good enough. We have to try to do that better in the next few games especially – against top teams as well. We have to make sure we’re more resilient, stronger in those situations when things go against us.”

Aké had entered the fray in the eighth minute against Madrid as a replacement for the injured John Stones. The Dutchman said City had not played sensibly: “We had to stay stronger, maybe defend a little bit deeper, accept that they could have the ball a little bit longer. Sometimes we want to do things too quickly and we’re not resilient enough so then spaces get created and with the pace and the strength they have it’s difficult to contain them with the forwards they have.”

Liverpool are clear at the top and have a 17-point advantage over City, who are fourth. Arne Slot’s side, who won the reverse fixture 2-0 in December, have not lost in 22 Premier League matches as they aim to win their first title in five years.

“We still have to keep the belief we can,” Aké said of being able to beat Liverpool. “In these big games, we’ve done it before. We’ve done it a few times this season. Obviously most of the time this season we haven’t. The only thing we can do is look forward and go to the next one, at home, with confidence. We also have to accept that these last two games against Madrid they were just better.”
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